Round two: Eau de garjalinger

Remember this dinner:

This was the radical dinner that included the potato dish that Madhur Jaffrey claimed to love with "irrational passion." Well, here's the other two recipes that showed up to the party.

The first one has an equally witty name: lentils with garlic and tomatoes. The other is a little more exotic: saag paneer, minus the paneer (paneer is a fresh cheese that doesn't exist for purchase in my little town). Saag paneer is a Northern Indian dish of paneer and greens, most often spinach. This is bar-none my favorite dish in an Indian restaurant. F.A.V.O.R.I.T.E. If you've never had saag paneer, imagine the best creamed spinach you've ever tasted and then multiply that yumminess by, well, a lot.

My saag paneer was pretty damn good; granted, I was missing a fairly fundamental ingredient, but the smell of the blended garlic, jalapeno, ginger base for the dish made my eyes roll into the back of my head. If I could make a perfume it would be Eau de garjalinger. I would rub this shit on my neck it smelled so good. I could not keep my head out of the food processor.

The lentils were tasty, as well. You'll notice the recipe is fairly straightforward -- a dish that could easily be thrown together on a regular basis. This lentil dish would be a great place to start, as it does not call for any expensive spices or ingredients. Try it! You will like these lentils. You can thank me later for introducing you to such a healthful, inexpensive food staple.

Well, not sure what I should do now. Vacuum? Exercise? Nah. I think I'll crawl into bed and find something salacious to watch on hulu. I love not having homework.

Diced tomatoes.

Soon these little babies will come from the farm;

not soon enough, though.

Rinse your lentils. Sucks to bite into a pebble.

Bad photo. Good smell.

Peeled and diced ginger.

Every kitchen needs some form of a Cuisinart.

Coming soon to a boutique near you: Eau de garjalinger.

Serious shrinkage.

I wish I could eat this right now.

Lentils with garlic and tomatoes

from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking

1/2 lbs tomatoes, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs lemon juice

1 cup dried lentils, rinsed and picked over

4 tbs vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

As told by Madhur: Heat the oil in a heavy, wide, 2 1/2-quart pot over a medium flame. When hot, put in the garlic. Stir and fry until the garlic browns lightly. Put in the tomatoes. Stir and cook about five minutes or until tomatoes turn into a paste. Put in the lentils and 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer gently for 1/2 hour. Add the salt and lemon juice. Stir to mix.

Saag (minus the paneer)

1 1/2 lbs spinach, washed, trimmed and very finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, peeled

1 inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped

1/2 to 1 fresh hot green chili, sliced roughly

3 tbs heavy cream

6 tbs vegetable oil (ouch, I know. It was delicious.)

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

salt

Madhur: Put the ginger, garlic and green chili into the container of an electric blender of food processor along with 1/4 cup water. Blend until you have a smooth paste. You may need to push down with a rubber spatula once.

Heat the oil in a large, wide, preferably nonstick saute pan over a medium flame. (Paneer info. Insert sad, teary face here)

Put the paste from the blender into the hot oil in your pan (keep face averted) and fry it, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds. Now put in the spinach and 1/2 tsp salt (and the garam masala). Stir the spinach around for 1 minute. Cover the pan, lower the heat, and let the spinach cook gently with the ginger-garlic past for 15 minutes. There should be enough water clinging to the spinach leaves to cook them. If all the water evaporates, add 1 to 2 tablespoons and continue cooking.

Now put in the (paneer) and cream, stir gently, and bring to a simmer. Cover, and continue cooking on low heat for another 10 minutes. Stir once or twice during this period.